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The Comic
This is the page retracing the episodes of the EVOKE comic book as published on the homepage of the EVOKE website. Episode 1 Published on the need a date ! Tokyo, Japan, February the 13th 2020. Famine is threatening as food reserves all over Japan, in spite of strict rationing, are running out. The governor in office wonders, refusing to let this happen, wonders what to do and his assistant suggests sending an EVOKE to the mysterious Network, that fixed a similarly catastrophic situation in Lagos in 2017. The governor asks his assistant to show him how to send the EVOKE. In Dakar, Senegal, a black man receives the urgent EVOKE from Japan and activates one of his agents, codenamed Ember. As Ember wraps up a class on social problems caused by the mass famine migrations of 2016, her phone rings and Alchemy starts filling her in on the details of her upcoming mission : she'll have to go to Tokyo as soon as possible and help solve the crisis over there. Presumably shortly thereafter, an unnamed young woman on the phone in Bo-Kaap, Capetown discusses the details of the same mission asking if she and her Network colleagues will have to work to fix the situation in other cities in Japan or only Tokyo. The black man tells her that they'll focus on Tokyo and "Tokyo will fix the rest". She proceeds to packing equipment and prepares to leave within the hour. In the Great Rift Valley area, Kenya, a man named Quinn discusses the economical situation of the food market in Japan over the phone with the black man. Reading notes on his portable tablet computer, he believes that they should move in as soon as possible before someone else "corners the market", thus making action on the Network's part difficult : he quotes the example of what happened with the African honey production industry. He also suggests that moving in on Tokyo, if done right, might solve not only the food crisis but also help counter the mini-greenhouse effect the town has been generating for itself for years. Back to the governor's office in Tokyo, a call from the black man (whose name we learn is Alchemy) comes in. Alchemy explains that the Network team is responding to the governor's EVOKE (which has been labelled number #001285) and explains the conditions of their intervention : while the governor will keep the existence of the Network a secret, he will facilitate access to local resources and public land while they will "provide the imagination". When the team will be done with the mission, Tokyo will have fresh fruits and vegetables all around the year, food security specialists able to prevent another situation such as the current one, and will not need to send another EVOKE. They will take 50% of all profits made in the process, but the governor will take all the credit. As the governor asks when will the Network team arrives, the panels zoom out to give the reader a view of Japan from the orbit of an EVOKE-branded satellite. Alchemy answers that the team has already arrived, ending chapter 1 of the comic. Additional Clues *"The Earth moves at different speeds depending on where you are." Nigerian proverb. *"Evoke : It could be anyone" - seen on a billboard outside the window of Bo-Kaap (page 4). *Happiness Honey Collective - organisation Quinn seems to be working out of in Great Rift Valley (page 5). *Pacific Fisheries All Time Low : Yellow Fin lowest catch ever - on Quinn's tablet Investigate Episode 1 : Social Innovation On the 28th of January 2010, Evoke Agents were asked to investigate the first episode by looking at various files. http://blog.urgentevoke.net/2010/01/28/investigate-episode-1-social-innovation/: Get the facts behind the story. Make yourself an expert. Discover the thirteen secrets of episode one… 1. Is Japan really going to face a food crisis? 2. What’s “food security”? A term used to explain when people have enough to eat regularly and don't have to worry about nutrition. This is an important building block, because without food security a society will collapse on multiple levels. 3. What avatar technology is Alchemy using? 4. Where does Ember teach? University of Ghana. 5. What could cause a global mass migration in the future? Climate change. 6. What’s a Harajuku girl? Refers to a particular Japanese fashion worn by girls/young women. 7. What is Citizen Journalism? When ordinary people investigate stories themselves, such as through blogs and Youtube, or fact check mainstream media. 8. Where is Eureka working? Bo-Kap, Cape Town, South Africa. 9. Where is Quinn working? Happiness Honey Collective in the Great Rift Valley, which runs from northern Syria to Mozambique. 10. What happened to the honeybees? Colony Collapse Disorder, where worker bees from a hive abruptly disappear. There are several theories regarding why, but thus far inconclusive. 11. What’s causing the Tokyo “mini-greenhouse” effect? 12. What’s that small, cube-shaped satellite watching over Tokyo? 13. How could someone launch their own cube satellite? Episode 2 Published Wednesday 10th of March 2010 Page One: Tokyo, Japan, February 2020 Evoke #001285 The Tokyo Governor speaks on video phone to the mask covering Alchemy's identity. He is worried that while he know's that Evoke is in Japan, he has no idea what they are doing. The Governor asks what all the secrecy is about, and Alchemy answers that Evoke like's its secrets, and their strategy is not up for negotiation. Page Two Ember is working on the rooftops, her name tagged on various buildings. Eureka is working on the docks. Quinn is taking on the public spaces - digging up something. Alchemy's role is to make sure their stories get told ( he is drawing the comic). Page Three Ember stands on a Harajuku rooftop speaking to a Japanese workman about the plants beginning to grow. The workman comments that everything is coming along nicely, and Ember replies "Just like the Satellite models predicted." Ember then reminds the workman that she was never there, and he agrees that noone would believe him anyway. In Hibiya Park a Japanese couple walk through a grove of "Citrus Sinensis" trees and comment on them being new. Quinn looks on. Page Four Tokyo Harbor, Eureka stands on a barge that houses a greenhouse. It begins to rain, and she says "Good, a stress test".The last of the food reserves have been released to the Tokjo people. The Governor tells his assistant to issue a statement telling them that everything will be fine. Page Five The city now looks green and clean - with roof top gardens that spell out "Ember" and "Evoke" in the plants, greenhouse barges in the harbor, and parklands. Page Six At the airport Quinn reads the newpaper headline "Governor's Bold Plan Averts Food Crisis" and comments to the reader that it looks like an interesting story. Turns out the reader is Ember, who says her favourite part is the rooftop gardens in Harajuku - they are catching all over the city. The kids call it "Farmpunk." Quinn says he thinks the real innovation is the parks and public land being turned into local food and green revenue. The new plants have already brought the temperature down by half a degree. Ember says "I'm sure Will Allen would be proud." A couple walk past behind them talking about the new floating crop gardens. Eureka stands off to the side, not engaging with them. It is clear that the three do no know each other, or of one another's part. Evoke is an anonymous network where Alchemy is the controller. The flight 34 to Nairobi is called, and Eureka turns to go. Someone snaps a photo of her, and thinks "Gotcha". The photographer has a symbol on the hand X P in a circle. A poster says "Reward for information on unusual activities related to food shortage" and has the same symbol. Additional Clues "When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion" - Ethiopian proverb. Discussion about it's meaning http://www.urgentevoke.com/forum/topics/episode-2-code-phrase-when Investigate Episode 2 On March 10, Agents were asked to investigate the second episode by looking at the following files. http://blog.urgentevoke.net/2010/03/10/investigate-episode-2/ Discover the twelve secrets of Episode Two… 1. What’s urban farming? 2. Is farmpunk really happening in Tokyo? 3. What’s vertical agriculture? 4. Are there really floating food gardens? 5. How could I grow food on a roof? 6. How does satellite intelligence help us grow more food? 7. Quinn planted Citrus sinensis — what is that? 8. How do community gardens work? 9. What are more green spaces good for? 10. Can more green spaces really change a city’s temperature? 11. Who is Will Allen? 12. What’s growing power — and how do I get it?